Page 22 of Just a Heartbeat Away

Well, at least he’d had sex in the last ten days.

That was new for him.

“Dad!” Matty yanked on the pocket of Seb’s athletic pants.

“Matty!” Seb parroted.

“I wanna throw the ball for Crabby.” Matty’s big gray-green eyes squinted, his lips pursing like he already knew what the answer was gonna be.

“I have concerns.”

Matty’s face scrunched further. Apparently, his dad’s concerns were tiresome. “I can do it on my own!”

Seb raised one eyebrow.

Matty was already anticipating. “It won’t be like last time. I swear. I won’t throw the ball very far, and I’ll stay where you can see me. Plus, I’m not wearing my nice clothes like before so it doesn’t matter if Crabby gets me all dirty.”

Matty held his arms out to show off his worn T-shirt and ratty jeans. His smile was growing bigger and bigger, knowing he was inching closer to getting what he wanted. He shook his little butt for good measure, knowing it always made his dad smile.

“All right. But right over there, okay? And if he starts running away, shout for me right away. Don’t try to get him yourself. That’s how we ended up in Prospect Park at 11:45 at night last month.”

“Yes!” Matty did one more butt wiggle, this time because he was happy. “Thanks, Dad!”

And boy and dog were off, jostling each other as they sprinted to the other side of the field.

“I like the way you are with him,” a slightly out-of-breath Via said as she came to stand beside him in the dugout.

“Wow, I didn’t even realize you’d tagged in!” Seb gazed down at her, the sheen of sweat on her face turning her skin a darker gold.Stop saying wow, for fuck’s sake, Seb.

She nodded. “Homer.”

“Second of the night. Impressive.” Seb curled his fingers farther into the chain-link fence to keep himself from doing something dumb, like bumping her shoulder with his.

“Thanks.”

“And thanks to you, too. For the parenting compliment.”

“You deserve it. It seems like you and Matty have a good relationship.”

Seb searched her face for judgment. Was she comparing him now to the way he’d been back then? Was she thinking of that day? Mismatched buttons and dirty hair and a slob of a father?

He didn’t see that there, on her face. Her eyes were calm and wide, filling up half her dang face, her plush little mouth was tipped up at the sides, and she wrinkled her squished nose against a bead of sweat that traced down from her forehead.

“Well, I’ve worked to get us there. Being a good dad was something I had to practice.”

“All good things take practice.” She shrugged and looked out toward the softball game. “At least in my experience.”

“Hey, would you wanna—” Seb cut himself off in horror. Holy God. He’d been about to ask her out again. Just like that. She looked up at him, sweaty and sweet, and the words dang near popped right out. Boyfriend be damned. Age gap and creaky knees be damned. He stalled.

She was still looking at him. He needed to say something. “Uh, would you want a ride home? I know we’re in the same neighborhood. And, uh, Matty and I drove here so that we could bring the Pup McGruff, and I just thought I’d offer.”

Pup McGruff.

He’d just looked into a beautiful woman’s face, mumbled, stuttered and referred to his dog as Pup McGruff. Yeah. Any cool points he might have gained for recently having had sex were officially moot now.

“Oh, well, I’d never say no to that. I wasn’t looking forward to the sweaty train ride home. Can Fin come, too?”

“Yeah, of course. Of course. Totally. I might have to move some of our camping gear to the truck bed but sure. Of course.”

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